The Legalization Piggybank

Derek Thompson interviewed Joe Mathews of the New America Foundation about the money the California marijuana initiative might raise:

"A billion was one estimate [if you combine the income from taxes and
the money saved in policing and public health enforcement]. Nobody
knows the answer to that question. I don't think there's any great data
there. California has a strong recent history of making wildly
optimistic assumptions about these kind of programs. Most prominently,
Schwarzeneggar made a big deal when he came in about expanding Indian
gaming to make money, that it would bring in billions. It's raised
negligible amounts."

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